


I Know It's Gonna Be Alright

by maelstromdeparture



Series: On the Right Road [4]
Category: NCT (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band), Stray Kids (Band), SuperM (Korea Band), TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band), TWICE (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Brothers, Discrimination, Found Family, Hybrids, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Manipulation, Mentioned Xu Ming Hao | The8, Others Mentioned - Freeform, at some point i'll figure out how to tag i'm sure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:06:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24016414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maelstromdeparture/pseuds/maelstromdeparture
Summary: Taeyong learns what it's like to be part of an idol group. Friends are made and people learn about the world along the way.This summary is so bad, I'm sorry. It's like 4 am and my brain's not working.
Series: On the Right Road [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1723291
Comments: 8
Kudos: 71





	I Know It's Gonna Be Alright

**Author's Note:**

> This summary is by far the worst in this series but it's late and I'm tired and I couldn't think of anything better. 
> 
> This is also completely unedited unbetaed I haven't even read through it a second time. So there's probably a bunch of mistakes, but I'm a bit of an insomniac and I finished it and just didn't want to think about doing a read through before posting tonight. 
> 
> There's events mentioned in this that will happen in other fics that I haven't finished yet that will be posted to this series. 
> 
> Really the only basic info you need that I haven't put anywhere yet is that some of the members of Seventeen are part of a hybrid's rights group and get the rest of the characters involved. 
> 
> Anyway, as always I generally have no idea what I'm doing, please let me know if I'm spelling names wrong so I can fix it. :) 
> 
> And enjoy!
> 
> ***this is now edited!!! yay! :) also plot holes were fixed! because that's what happens when you don't plan before you write

The six of them had known each other awhile, shared stages together, and generally knew how to work together. They had even officially moved into the shared house before the official first practice which meant they had all gathered in the living room, sans Baekhyun’s hybrid, Chen who was staying in Baekhyun’s room nervously doing his best to avoid the other five.

“So, we’re voting in a leader tomorrow, yeah?” asked Lucas from where he was sitting cross legged on the floor.

“I mean, they didn’t say so, but probably,” said Ten nodding, “it’d make sense.”

“Is it just like a regular vote? Or do they decide and we act like it’s a regular vote?” asked Mark looking at the older three. “Our group doesn’t have a leader?”

“We vote I think,” said Taemin nodding, “we voted for ours?”

“Same,” said Kai nodding.

“Does anyone know TY?” asked Baekhyun, “and if we should be worried that he refused to live here?”

“I don’t know him, but I know BamBam-hyung from Got7 who does. BamBam-hyung likes him a lot, says he’s cool and really talented,” said Ten.

“Could you ask him if we should be worried about the dorm situation?”

“I did already, hyung,” said Ten nodding, “he wouldn’t tell me anything, but not to worry about it. Apparently, it’s got something to do with his current roommate situation.”

“Is that code for he doesn’t want to not live alone?” asked Mark running a hand through his hair.

“I’ve met him once or twice in passing, he seems genuinely nice,” said Taemin, “a little on the quiet side but nice.”

“Maybe he’s just shy,” said Kai shrugging. “I’m a little more worried about the fact he doesn’t normally work in a group. Hopefully it’s not a struggle to get him to adjust to a group setting.” Either way they’d find out tomorrow.

Taeyong fiddled with the bright green bracelet he always wore, the one that he had bought from Johnny’s store counter the last time he had been in to get his ears pierced again. There wasn’t a single one of their friend group that didn’t have one they wore pretty much constantly at this point. Ever since Hoseok had started selling them in the dance studio for Minghao and the 247 group the others had asked to sell them in their stores too. Chan and BamBam were also selling them to the artists they knew, stylists and mangers too in BamBam’s case. Taeyong hadn’t taken his off since he bought it and would buy another when it broke. Chenle, Jungwoo, and Sicheng had excitedly woken up before Taeyong’s alarm this morning to make breakfast and generally cause chaos, but Taeyong had let them bully him into his pale blue hoodie and a pair of dark jeans they had picked out and hugged them good bye. They had done this for ages at this point. Chenle claimed it was tradition to wake up, no matter how early, and send him off with hugs and breakfast when he was doing something big and exciting and was extra nervous. Taeyong loved them and would never regret letting the three of them into his life even if they were a little bit of a disaster when they were all excited. He would have to help clean the kitchen when he got home tonight, but it was worth it. By the time he made it to the studio, there had been an influx of good luck messages from the Snapchat group with the ever-changing title. Taeyong had chuckled as he realized that Johnny had changed it last night and it now was called, TY Support Group. He didn’t expect it to last for longer than the morning, but it had made him feel a little better, which was probably what Johnny was going for. He tugged his phone out of his pocket again to send a picture of the building to let them know he had gotten there and held onto his phone instead of putting it back so he wouldn’t be able to play with his bracelet. He pushed open the door and waved hello to the security guard that always worked this shift and was familiar with him by now and started down the hall. It took several minutes to get to the right floor and then into the right practice room. He was a few minutes early so he would probably be the first there. He found out he was right when he pushed open the door and was met with a handful of managers circled together in the room talking. His manager was there already and Taeyong would bet that the other three were from the other three groups involved.

“Good morning, Taeyong-ah,” greeted his manager.

“Morning, Jiwoo-hyung,” said Taeyong nodding.

“You’re early?” asked one of the other managers glancing at the watch on his wrist. “My boys are always late, guess I’m used to it, I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here for another fifteen minutes.”

“Ah, yes, sorry?” said Taeyong nodding, nose wrinkling slightly.

“Taeyong-ah always runs early,” said Jiwoo nodding, “I was honestly expecting him to show up five minutes ago.”

“Yeah, Lele set the fire alarm off trying to make pancakes and which startled Jungwoo who dropped a plate which made WinWin spill coffee everywhere,” said Taeyong shrugging and dropping his backpack to the ground. “So it took a little longer to get out of the apartment.” Jiwoo laughed.

“They’re excited then,” he said, “don’t they normally sleep through you leaving in the morning?”

“Normally,” said Taeyong nodding, “they probably went back to sleep unless Hannie and Lix are awake already in which case they’re probably meeting them at Hobi-hyung’s.”

“Your roommates?” asked one of the other managers and Taeyong nodded.

“My brothers,” said Taeyong, “or they may as well be at least. Hannie and Lix are Bang Chan’s brothers, he’s a producer, works with a lot of JYP artists.”

“Oh, he worked with 7th Sense for one of their albums a while back,” said one of the managers nodding, probably the 7th Sense manager. Taeyong nodded.

“He works with a lot of people around the world,” said Taeyong.

“How do you know him?” asked the 7th Sense manager.

“He’s friends with BamBam-ah,” said Taeyong fiddling with his phone case slightly as he talked, just to have something to do with his hands. “And we ran into him, BamBam, Felix, and Han in a coffee shop after Jungwoo managed to get a second degree burn from a cookie pan. Han and Felix wanted to know what happened. Next thing I knew we were meeting their group for Sunday dinner regularly.”

“Oh no, are you missing that tonight?” asked one of the other managers, “I know being a solo idol must be difficult so I’m sure having a friend group for support is good. I hope you aren’t missing it.”

“I am, but it’s not like I won’t see them tomorrow and the others are all going tonight,” said Taeyong shrugging. “You never know who will be there and who won’t honestly, because everyone works different schedules. It’s always at Chan’s house though because he’s got the biggest backyard, even when he’s not in the country it’s there.”

“How does that happen?” asked the 7th Sense manager.

“Jackson-hyung and Changbin both have extra keys,” said Taeyong nodding. His phone buzzed again and he glanced down to see the group chat going wild as more people woke up for the day. Jiwoo stepped over breaking the circle of managers to see what had made Taeyong grin and laughed at the picture of Hyunjin, hair messed up, thrown over Changbin’s shoulder, and looking drunk on sleep that Kai had sent to the group chat.

“Kai works for Changbin, right?” asked Jiwoo.

“Yeah,” said Taeyong nodding, “he wants to make music.”

“He hasn’t auditioned to be a trainee?”

“He’s American and wants to make music like how Changbin and Chan do. He doesn’t want to be an idol,” said Taeyong shaking his head.

“Ah, a shame, he’s a cute kid,” said Jiwoo nodding. Taeyong tapped through more replies including one from Renjun that had a confused and annoyed looking Jaemin trying to push Renjun off of him from where he had apparently jumped on top of Jaemin to wake hi up. Voices echoed through the hallway and Taeyong’s head snapped up realizing they were getting closer.

“Here they come. Your boys must have drug mine out of bed to be here on time,” said the 7th Sense manager with a laugh.

“Probably,” said one of the other managers with a laugh, “it’s probably good they’re all in a dorm together.” The door opened and Taeyong fought the urge to pull his hood up over his head and shoved his phone into the pocket of his hoodie so he wouldn’t look rude as the other six boys piled into the room already laughing and talking loudly. The group of them loudly greeted their managers, seemingly having far too much energy for the time of morning it currently was. It’s one of the 7th Sense members that notices Taeyong first and waves cheerfully and comes over towards him breaking away from the group.

“Hi,” he greeted in slightly accented Korean. “I’m Lucas, nice to meet you, TY sunbaenim.”

“Uh, nice to meet you too,” said Taeyong nodding, “please just call me Taeyong. I’m your hyung, right? That’d be okay too.” Lucas beamed at him.

“Really? Cool!” he said, “Mark, Ten-hyung, come meet Taeyong-hyung.” The other two members from his group hurried over.

“Hey, nice to meet you, sunbaenim, I’m Mark,” said Mark brightly.

“He’s the maknae, I’m Ten, nice to meet you,” said Ten smiling and nodding as he threw an arm around Mark’s shoulders. “You met Yukhei already.”

“Nice to meet you all too,” said Taeyong nodding and shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket trying to remember to look confident about this.

“I’m pretty sure you’re older than all of us, hyung,” said Lucas brightly, “me and Ten-hyung are in WayV and all three of us are in 7th Sense too.”

“My brothers really like WayV,” said Taeyong nodding, “you’re all really good. You too, Mark-ah, both of your groups are very talented.” The three of them thanked him enthusiastically.

“You have brothers, hyung?” asked Mark.

“Yes, kind of,” said Taeyong nodding, “my roommates. We’ve lived together since about two years after I debuted. They’re as much my brothers as you can be without being blood related.”

“That’s so cool,” said Mark brightly.

“Sounds like our group,” said Ten with a laugh. “How many brothers do you have, hyung?”

“Three,” said Taeyong nodding, “Chenle and Sicheng are both from China originally, so I know a little Mandarin, but not enough to really hold a conversation. Jungwoo speaks more Mandarin than I do which was good because Sicheng-ah didn’t speak Korean when he moved in.”

“That’s so cool,” said Ten nodding, “Mark speaks basically no Mandarin but we did accidentally teach him the swear words. Our managers were not thrilled about that.” Taeyong chuckled.

“No, they probably weren’t,” he agreed. He glanced up to realize the other three had headed over towards them now too.

“Hey,” said Baekhyun once they reached them, “I’m Baekhyun, welcome to the team, TY.”

“Thank you, sunbaenim,” said Taeyong nodding, gripping the phone in his pocket tightly. This was more nerve wracking than he had thought it would be.

“Ah, we’re going to be in a group together, TY-ah,” said Taemin brightly, “call us all hyung. I’m Taemin, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Taemin-hyung,” said Taeyong nodding nervously.

“Hi,” greeted Kai, “I’m Kai, you’re really talented. You write most of your own lyrics, right?”

“Yes,” said Taeyong nodding, “thank you. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, here,” said Baekhyun holding out a key ring, “I know you didn’t want to move into the dorm, but we figured you should have a key anyway and there’s an extra bed for you too if you end up needing to stay over if we’re all there late one night.” Taeyong took the key ring and shoved it into his back pocket.

“Thank you, hyung,” he said nodding, “I, um won’t be staying the night. Chenle-ah doesn’t sleep if I’m not back and I’m supposed to be, but I appreciate it.”

“Chenle?” asked Kai curious.

“One of his brothers,” said Lucas brightly, “he’s got three. Hyung said that they’re not actually his brothers but they’ve been roommates so long now that they basically are.”

“Ah, that’s why you didn’t want to have a dorm,” said Taemin nodding, “understandable.” Taeyong nodded.

“I can’t just run out on them,” he said in explanation. The managers called their attention at that moment and they turned to see what it was they were going to be doing for the next few weeks and when they were supposed to be debuting as a group by.

Taeyong found it relatively easy to work with the other six boys and he could tell the group was visibly relieved to find out he wasn’t going to cause problems and be difficult to work with. But they also didn’t quite relax with him the way that they did with each other. It was like they were worried about pushing too far with their teasing and affection. Taemin and Kai had cheerfully refused to call him anything other than TY while Baekhyun had taken up calling him TYongie and the younger three mostly just stuck to calling him hyung. He normally knew they were talking to him just by the fact that there wasn’t a name attached to the word. They had started doing some lives together after a couple months of working on music and choreography. And the fans had noticed immediately that he wasn’t as relaxed as the rest of the group though many fans were claiming that was just how he was, he had a cold personality. When asked about it the group members had agreed, claiming that they liked Taeyong a lot and that they all got along really well, that Taeyong was just a very calm person compared to the rest of them. And Taeyong was fine with that, they seemed to sincerely like having him around so he would hang out with them when invited, and he was starting to feel much less nervous about being in the group. Lucas had discovered that he normally could be found in the dance practice rooms after their schedule was officially over and had started joining him for extra practice and had nervously asked if he would help him. Taeyong had been surprised how easily he got used to having the younger with him in the practice rooms and it helped him remember to be more conscious of not staying too late. That was where they were tonight after an evening practice and Lucas was pulling his hoodie back on as Taeyong checked his phone to see messages from WinWin saying the three of them were hanging out with Johnny and Yuta for the evening and wouldn’t be back until midnight, which meant Taeyong was on his own.

“Yukhei-ah, do you want to go get ice cream with me?” asked Taeyong sending back a reply to the three of them. Lucas’s head jerked up surprised.

“Oh, sure, hyung,” he said nodding and smiling excitedly at him, “I thought you were going home?”

“My roommates are out for the rest of the night and I don’t fancy being alone yet,” said Taeyong shrugging, “ice cream is better with company.” Lucas grinned.

“And I was your first choice?” he asked grabbing his backpack and following Taeyong out the door.

“Yes?” said Taeyong looking a little confused, “why wouldn’t you be?”

“I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” said Lucas shaking his head, “I was just surprised.” Taeyong nodded.

“Oh, sorry if I’ve been um standoffish, I guess,” said Taeyong deciding that was the best word to describe it, “Jungwoo says I’m awkward around people. Doyoung says I’m an asshole, but Doyoung’s an asshole so he doesn’t get to have an opinion.” Lucas laughed.

“Your friends sound cool, hyung,” he said.

“They’re pretty great,” said Taeyong nodding and smiling, “really crazy too, but they’re fun. Here I’ll drive, I’ll drop you off at the dorm later.”

“Sounds good, hyung,” said Lucas nodding and following Taeyong to the car. He slid into the passenger seat and dropped his backpack into the backseat.

“Mark is going to be so annoyed that I got to go get ice cream with you and he didn’t,” said Lucas brightly. Taeyong laughed.

“Why? It’s not like I’m that entertaining,” said Taeyong shaking his head, “if he really wants to he can come along next time, but I’m not going to the dorm to pick him up tonight.” Lucas laughed.

“You are really awesome, hyung,” he said, “me and Mark and Ten-hyung have followed your career since you debuted. Like Baekhyun-hyung and Kai-hyung and Taemin-hyung were intimidating to be in a group with and they’re huge names in the business and it’s crazy to get to stand by them in a group, but we’ve met them before, we’ve interacted with them on one level or another. You were something else, hyung, are something else. You’ve kind of been our personal idol for a long time now. We were really excited to get to meet you and get to be in a group with you. And we know we’re used to our groups and that we can all be kind of a lot, so we’ve honestly been a little worried that we would make you uncomfortable.” Taeyong laughed.

“I walked into a group of six people that I’d never done more than walk past in the hallways before who are all in extremely popular groups,” said Taeyong, “I’ve been uncomfortable from the moment PD nim called to tell me he wanted me in the group. There is very little you could do at this point that would make me more uncomfortable. I actually really appreciate the effort you’ve all put into making me feel included in group stuff even though I’m not living in the dorm.”

“Well, yeah, you’re awesome, hyung, we don’t want you to think we don’t like you,” said Lucas nodding rapidly, “you’re like the coolest person I know. I had no idea you were nervous, you were so cool and confident, like you always are. It’s really intimidating.”

“It’s also really fake,” said Taeyong with a laugh, “I mean the calm isn’t really, but the confident intimidating part is. My base state of being is nervous and easily flustered.”

“There is no way you’re easily flustered,” said Lucas giggling at the idea, “you seem so unflappable.” 

“You’d be surprised,” said Taeyong shaking his head, “we’ll probably run into one of my friends when we get there. We’re going to Candy Pop it’s where most of them live and they seem to make it their life goal to make me embarrassed. I think there’s a betting pool going but I haven’t cornered the right person to tell me yet. I’m waiting until I can get Taeil-hyung alone, I bet he’d tell me. If not I’ll blackmail it out of one of his kids.”

“Ten-hyung said you’re friends with BamBam from JYP?” asked Lucas.

“Yeah,” said Taeyong nodding, “BamBam’s mentioned knowing him before too. And Channie said he knows the lot of you.”

“Bang Chan-ssi? You’re friends with CB97?” asked Lucas eagerly, “hyung, that’s awesome!”

“He’s a good kid,” said Taeyong nodding.

“I read somewhere that he’s supporting hybrid rights like super vocally? Do you know if that’s true, hyung?” asked Lucas.

“Yeah,” said Taeyong nodding, “you know he’s really good friends with BamBam and BamBam’s been supporting hybrid rights since Yugyeomie got thrown into his life and the whole mess that turned into with the investigation and everything.”

“Oh, that would make sense actually,” said Lucas nodding. “I guess I didn’t realize BamBam means equal rights for hybrids and not just prevention of smuggling and stuff.”

“Yeah, no he means equal rights,” said Taeyong shaking his head. He hesitated. “What do you think about that, Yukhei-ah?”

“Oh, um. I don’t know?” said Lucas frowning, “I haven’t really thought about it. I mean I have met Haechan and Jisung and lived with them in the dorms for a while, but they kind of do their own thing and mostly stay away from groups of us. They’re Mark’s hybrids, they’ve been with him awhile now. I’ve never really understood what exactly drove him to adopt them. Haechan-ah’s from a shelter, we don’t know how he ended up there. And Mark bought Jisung straight from his previous owner who seemed pretty cruel, but he’s okay now that he lives with us. Kun-hyung thinks Mark might have decided to adopt Haechan in the first place because he’d been struggling to balance both groups and being so far from home. Cause he was dealing with a lot of push from our managers at the time because he had struggled with his Korean on a couple of the more recent variety shows. Ten-hyung thinks it’s because Mark feels emotions too intensely and couldn’t walk away without knowing he would be okay. They’re nice, but they’re both really quiet, and you mostly don’t see them around. They don’t do much unless Mark asks them to do something.” Taeyong chewed on his lip.

“Have you tried talking to them?” he asked.

“Once?” said Lucas shrugging, “they mostly just got confused, but that might have been my fault. I know they’re really good at listening to Mark and Kun-hyung. I feel weird about telling them to do things though so I don’t. They don’t really have opinions on things anyway?”

“They’ve probably been trained not to have opinions,” said Taeyong shaking his head, “most of what is considered common knowledge about hybrids isn’t very accurate at all.”

“Really?” asked Lucas cocking his head. “Mark’s really chill though, so if it’s wrong why wouldn’t they have started acting different?”

“You said one of them is from a shelter and the other had an owner who was cruel,” said Taeyong and Lucas nodded. “High chances of previous abuse. Are they dogs?”

“No, they’re both cats,” said Lucas, “it’s why Mark doesn’t bring them to shows. They’re registered as emotional support so that they can tour with us though.”

“Definitely a high chance of abuse, especially the one that’s not from the shelter, trained behavior for sure. They probably aren’t acting different because they don’t want to risk punishment,” said Taeyong shaking his head. “I can send you websites with information if you want.”

“That’d be cool,” said Lucas nodding, “I’d like to know more. They always seem kind of jumpy around most of us, I’d like to be able to help with that.”

“I’ll send you some tonight,” he said nodding, “you should look up Face to Face and The8 on YouTube, they’ll both have a lot of information.”

“I’ll do that,” said Lucas nodding and leaning to reach and grab his backpack as Taeyong parked the car outside a candy store in cute pastel colors.

“This place is adorable,” said Lucas, “how’d you find it?”

“Jungwoo-ah had an accident involving cookies and a second degree burn,” said Taeyong shrugging, “and that led to meeting Chan and BamBam at Jin Eats which led to Sunday dinners which led to Hope On the Street and Momo which led to Candy Pop. The girls are great and they’re good about not letting people take pictures of idols breaking their diets. They’ve got some friends in Twice, the JYP group, I haven’t met them yet but I’m told they’re fun.”

“I’m not sure I understood how your roommate burning himself led to the candy store, but okay,” said Lucas nodding and giggling slightly. He turned in his seat to try and grab his backpack from the backseat.

“Oh, you can leave your backpack,” said Taeyong pulling the keys out of the ignition and grabbing his own backpack.

“My wallet though, hyung?” asked Lucas and Taeyong rolled his eyes.

“I’m the hyung and I invited you, Yukhei-ah, I’m paying for your ice cream,” said Taeyong shaking his head, “leave the backpack, come on, let’s go.” Lucas hesitated a second but let go of his backpack looking a little surprised at Taeyong but laughing as Taeyong just waved his hand at him trying to usher him out of the car. He followed Taeyong into the store, it was pink, white, and purple and full of candy displayed in cute patterns and colors and jars and at the back was a countertop with bar stools for ice cream and milkshakes.

“Welcome to Candy Pop!” called a girl with strawberry red hair pulled up in a ponytail.

“Hey, Nayeon, you know you shouldn’t work by yourself so late at night,” called Taeyong leading the way over to the counter.

“Tae-oppa,” said the girl brightly, “I’m fine no worries. Johnny-oppa is just a couple doors down and Yuta would hear me scream. If they’re not around Changbinnie is just across the street and you know Hyunjinnie worries and tends to watch the windows at night.”

“Yah, you should still work with at least one other person,” said Taeyong shaking his head. “How’s Jeongyeon?”

“She’s good, went with Momo to hang out after hours at Hope,” said Nayeon nodding, “you’re working a lot lately, yeah? I saw your boys earlier today with Johnny-oppa.”

“Yeah,” said Taeyong nodding, “schedules are really crazy right now and probably will be for a while. WinWin said something about anime I think?” Nayeon laughed.

“Well, that should be interesting between the Chinese, Korean, English, and Japanese that group collectively prefers,” she said. Taeyong laughed.

“I’m sure they’ll figure it out,” he said nodding, “this is Lucas, we’re here to cheat on diets.”

“Why else is anyone ever here?” asked Nayeon brightly, “hi, Lucas-ssi, nice to meet you. You must be working extra right now too or you wouldn’t have been at SM so late where Tae-oppa could find you for his mothering instincts to kick in and want to feed you.”

“What mothering instincts?” complained Taeyong flopping down onto one of the stools, Lucas following delighted and a little overwhelmed by how relaxed Taeyong seemed to be with Nayeon, who grinned at Lucas mischievously.

“He says that but he knows it’s the truth. Anyone younger and cuter he wants to protect and feed,” she said, “have you met his kids yet? Or any of the kids actually? You’ll see if you have.”

“Ah, no I don’t think so?” asked Lucas.

“You have not,” said Taeyong, “and they’re not my kids, though they are kids. You’re the only person he’s met so far.”

“Neat!” exclaimed Nayeon brightly and clapping her hands, “you’re here for cheating diets? What do you want? Not you, Tae-oppa, I know what you want. Lucas-ssi, what do you want?”

“Uhm, milkshake?” said Lucas.

“Flavor?” asked Nayeon already moving to set up the milkshake machine. Lucas looked over the menu options quickly.

“Salted caramel,” said Lucas nodding.

“Ooo, a good one,” said Nayeon nodding as she started making the drink. “Oppa, did you eat yet?”

“Um, yes?” said Taeyong.

“Protein bars do not count,” said Nayeon.

“Oh, then no,” said Taeyong shaking his head.

“Promise me you’ll go to Jin’s from here?” asked Nayeon. Taeyong sighed.

“Okay, okay,” he agreed, “you all worry about stupid stuff.”

“You can see your ribs, Tae-oppa,” said Nayeon, “it’s not a stupid thing to be concerned about. We can’t even see the girls’ ribs as much as we can see yours. You look like Lix did when Namjoon first called Channie.”

“It’s not that bad,” complained Taeyong taking the milkshake handed to him. Lucas took his as well, cheerfully starting to eat it. Though he was a little concerned about the discussion of Taeyong’s eating habits, but not overly so, he clearly had people watching out for him.

“You need to eat more,” insisted Nayeon shaking her head and ringing them up on the cash register. She took Taeyong’s card when he handed it to her.

“It’s not that I don’t eat, Nayeon-ah,” said Taeyong shaking his head, “my metabolism is fast and I do so much exercise that I can’t ever gain more weight than I’ve got. Believe me Jungwoo and WinWin both tried and Chenle spent an entire month force feeding me hot chocolate every night. It is what it is.”

“That doesn’t mean you don’t still need to eat and you admitted that you haven’t yet. So take your card and your shakes and your dongsaeng and march yourselves on over to Jin’s and get one of his sandwiches,” said Nayeon handing Taeyong his card back and pointing a finger at him. Taeyong laughed but took the card and stood up.

“Okay, we’ll go. See you soon, Nayeon-ah, tell the girls I said hi,” said Taeyong nodding.

“I will. Bye Lucas-ssi, it was nice to meet you,” she called.

“It was nice to meet you too!” called Lucas brightly over his shoulder as he followed Taeyong out of the candy store and back into the car.

“She seems nice,” said Lucas brightly, “you seem close?”

“Yeah,” said Taeyong nodding, “she’s part of this giant friend group that lives around here that decided recently that they had adopted me and the boys. I’m much closer to Johnny-hyung, Taeil-hyung, Doyoung-ah, and associates than most of the others. But it’s a great group and they’re all good people. We’ve been talking about moving down here and getting a place in this area,” said Taeyong starting up the car. “Just to be closer. That way we don’t have to worry about taking the subway if I need the car for something and there’s more people around that can help if there’s an emergency. Most of these shops down here have apartments above them that either rent out or are where the shop owners live.”

“That’s so cool,” said Lucas immediately leaning against the window and looking up at the buildings they were passing. “Hey, a music store!”

“Yeah, that’s Changbin-ah’s place,” said Taeyong nodding, “they’re probably there but they tend to close a little earlier than the others.”

“Where are we going?”

“The café on the next street over,” said Taeyong turning the corner, “Jin-hyung runs it. He’s the oldest of the lot of us.”

“It’s really cool that you have so many friends. It’s like your own community. Oh! It’s like they’re your group, hyung!” said Lucas brightly. Taeyong laughed and nodded.

“From the way the rest of you talk about your groups, you’re not exactly wrong,” he said as he parked the car. Lucas climbed out and followed him into the café.

“Welcome,” called Yeonjun from the counter and then he looked up and grinned at them.

“Tae-hyungie!” he called brightly, “Jin-hyung! Taeyong-hyung is here!” Jin appeared from around the corner that led into the kitchen, his apron was pulled over his head but not tied and he beamed at them when he saw them.

“Taeyongie,” he said cheerfully, “the boys were in here earlier with Johnny and Yuta, we figured we might see you at midnight right before close if at all. But look at you, it’s only nine, it’s practically still a decent hour for food. You’re eating food, Taeyongie.”

“Yes, hyung,” said Taeyong nodding and taking the sandwich from the display that Yeonjun handed him. “I already promised Nayeon that I’d eat real food. She’s why we’re here. This is Lucas-ah. Lucas, this is Yeonjun-ah and Jin-hyung, Jin-hyung owns the place and Yeonjun-ah wants to be a doctor and work with Namjoon-hyung across the street.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Lucas brightly.

“Nice to meet you too, Lucas-ah,” said Jin cheerfully and leaning across the counter to hand him a sandwich too. “I swear they don’t feed you enough at SM, you’re all too skinny.”

“Again, it’s just my metabolism, hyung,” said Taeyong, “I don’t even really follow the diet because it doesn’t make a difference. Lucas-ah probably does though.” 

“Um??? Sometimes,” said Lucas looking sheepish, “it depends on if Kun-hyung catches us with junk food or not.” Jin laughed.

“Well, what can we get you two to drink?” asked Jin, “or just the food? I see milkshakes.”

“Just the food,” said Taeyong, “anything you want, Lucas-ah?”

“No, thanks, hyung,” said Lucas shaking his head and holding up the milkshake cup, “this is way too much sugar already.”

“And you said you don’t follow the diet, Luca-ssi,” said Yeonjun ringing them up on the register.

“Ah, I don’t. I just don’t actually like sweet things all that much,” said Lucas shrugging, “but this is really good.”

“Salted caramel, right?” asked Jin squinting at the cup and nodding, “that one is pretty good. How’s Nayeon-ah, Tae-ah? We missed her at dinner the other night.”

“She’s good, hyung,” said Taeyong nodding, “needs more help because she’s still working nights alone.”

“Aish, that girl,” complained Jin shaking his head, “I bet we could convince Joon to send the boys over every other night, but I’m not sure that would help with the hyperactivity going on in their house.” Taeyong laughed at that.

“They’re not that bad,” he said, “besides Jimin-hyung and Taehyung-hyung are great.”

“They are and I love them to bits, but they can be exhausting,” said Jin with a laugh. “You know how many people meet Joon and Yoongi and match them up and then meet Hobi and the soulmates and match them up? Everyone.”

“I mean, I did for sure,” said Taeyong nodding, “it’s fun though how balanced out it is.”

“Yoongi and Hobi yeah, Namjoon-ah not so much,” said Jin laughing, “I’ve added extra espresso to his morning coffee recently and it doesn’t even make a difference. How are you? We haven’t seen much of you recently. The kids say you’re busy with schedules, that SM is keeping your days packed full right now.”

“Yeah, life’s been crazy,” said Taeyong nodding, “and it’s not looking to calm down anytime soon. I might be able to swing by one Sunday in a couple weeks, but it’ll depend.”

“What about you, Lucas-ah?” asked Seokjin, “is SM keeping you busy too?”

“Yes, Jin-ssi,” said Lucas nodding, “my schedule’s just as bad as hyung’s right now.”

“Then it’s good we got you here and got decent food into you,” said Jin nodding, “here let me give you my number and you just give me a call if you’re needing decent food delivered to your dorm. We don’t do delivery but Kai’s always wanting to make extra money and would do it no problem.” 

“Oh, thank you,” said Lucas handing his phone over for Jin to type in the number.

“Just shoot me a text. I know it can be exhausting to be a trainee and then have to figure out food. And my food will be healthier and tastier than most takeout places,” said Jin nodding and handing the phone back. “Taeyong-ah, did you know I once had an SM recruiter stop me on the street and ask me to train there? I didn’t believe them of course, but honestly, with this face who wouldn’t want me to be an idol?” Lucas shoved a bite of his sandwich into his mouth to try and muffle the laughter. Taeyong just sighed but smiled slightly, clearly having heard this story multiple times. 

“Yes, hyung, you’ve mentioned,” he said nodding, “we should get out of your line now. I’ll be by when I can.”

“It was good to see you, Taeyongie,” said Jin grinning and patting him on the shoulder, “come to dinner soon. Make sure you’re eating enough and sleeping. Make sure you’re sleeping.”

“Yes, hyung,” said Taeyong nodding. “Bye, Yeonjun-ah.”

“See ya, hyungie,” said Yeonjun nodding, “don’t stress Lele out too much.” Taeyong nodded.

“I’m doing my best,” he agreed. Lucas followed Taeyong back out to the car and the two of them climbed in.

“I fail to see how Nayeon-noona thought you had parental instincts when clearly it is Jin-ssi with parental instincts,” stated Lucas and Taeyong burst into laughter. It was loud and unreserved and Taeyong lay his head against his steering wheel as he laughed until he calmed down. Lucas hadn’t ever seen Taeyong so open before and couldn’t help the grin that came over his face that he had caused that reaction.

It had gotten easier after that for Lucas to joke around more with Taeyong and if the group of them was together you could normally find Lucas next to Taeyong. Taemin noticed first and had drug Lucas into the kitchen after he came back late one night, from staying in the studio to practice the choreography with Taeyong.

“Hey, Yukhei-ah, come talk?” asked Taemin.

“Sure, hyung,” said Lucas dropping his backpack onto the couch so he would remember to grab it before heading to his room later and heading into the kitchen. “What’s up?”

“You’ve been spending a lot of time at the studio,” said Taemin, “later than the rest of us. Just wanted to make sure you were alright. You can call us if you need someone to pick you up too.”

“I’m good, hyung,” said Lucas nodding, “Taeyong-hyungie is always there. He’s been dropping me off. I’m pretty sure he goes back sometimes after dropping me off to keep working though. He’s kind of a workaholic.”

“Taeyong-ah stays late?” asked Taemin surprised.

“Yeah, every night,” said Lucas nodding, “he’s normally in the recording studio before any of us get there in the morning too. I’m not sure he sleeps enough actually, but I don’t really feel like I can push him to sleep more, you know?”

“I had no idea you were spending so much time with him. You have gotten a lot closer recently. He’s a lot more open with you,” said Taemin nodding. “I guess you melt his cold personality some, Yukhei-ah.” Lucas cocked his head and wrinkled his nose.

“Taeyong-hyung’s not cold,” he said, “he’s just kinda shy and he was super nervous about the whole group thing. He’s really cool. He buys me food on the way back to the dorm half the time, especially if we stayed way later than we probably should have. And we’ve gone for milkshakes at least three times. Mark’s so annoyed that he hasn’t gotten to get milkshakes with hyung yet. He’s not cold and we’d honestly really have to push to make him uncomfortable, his friend group is pretty chaotic and pushy. He’s just shy and doesn’t want to be the one to initiate being more affectionate? At least not like we all are, I don’t think? He’s really good about making sure I’m doing okay when it’s just the two of us. He’d have been a really good hyung in a group honestly, could have been a great leader too. He cares a lot he’s just not as loud about it.”

“Huh,” said Taemin nodding, “well, okay then. I was just worried because I thought you were on your own. I’m glad you two are getting along so well. Baekhyun-hyung and I have been a little worried that Taeyong-ah is uncomfortable with everyone.”

“He’s not,” said Lucas shaking his head, “just shy in general.” Lucas laughed a little. “He’s very tsundere.” Taemin chuckled.

“Okay,” he agreed, “well, you should probably go shower, you’re all sweaty.” Lucas nodded.

“Night, hyung,” he said and stepped out of the kitchen to grab his backpack on the way to his room.

“Night, Lucas-ah,” said Taemin nodding. Lucas disappeared down the hall to his room and Taemin hesitated before pulling out his phone and sending a message to Taeyong to thank him for making sure Lucas made it home okay, before heading down the hall to find Baekhyun and let him know what he had learned from Lucas.

The rest of the group had caught on quickly when they realized that Taemin and Baekhyun had started acting the same with Taeyong the way they did with everyone else and had adjusted. The managers had been thrilled, Taeyong’s especially because it meant that he was more open on camera and his fans were very excited. The 7th Sense boys and the EXO boys were out with their groups for the night and Taemin wasn’t looking forward to heading back to the empty dorm, which was why he was in the studio later than usual and noticed one of the lights on in one of the rooms. He wasn’t too surprised to realize it was Taeyong with his headphones on working on a laptop, a worn notebook sitting on the table next to him as well.

“Taeyong-ah,” called Taemin and then flicked the lights on and off once when he failed to get Taeyong’s attention. Taeyong jumped slightly and pulled his headphones off looking up.

“Taemin-hyung,” he said, “you’re here late?”

“The dorm’s empty tonight,” said Taemin nodding, “what are you still doing here? It’s late.”

“I went home then came back,” said Taeyong shrugging, “couldn’t sleep.”

“Come back with me and work there then?” asked Taemin. Taeyong hesitated and then started packing up his stuff.

“Okay, hyung,” he agreed nodding. Taemin helped him pack up quickly and rode in Taeyong’s car back to the dorm.

“You really shouldn’t be walking to and from SM this late at night, hyung,” said Taeyong as Taemin handed him the id to swipe into the parking lot of the building. Taeyong parked quickly and Taemin shrugged.

“Yeah, you’re probably right, but it seems silly to drive for such a short distance,” said Taemin. The two of them climbed out of the car.

“Where are the others?” asked Taeyong following Taemin to the entrance of the building.

“With their groups for the night,” said Taemin nodding, “so it’s just me here tonight. And Chen, but he’s hardly ever around.”

“Chen?” asked Taeyong as Taemin opened the door and the two of them slipped out of their shoes and jackets.

“Baekhyun-hyung’s hybrid,” said Taemin nodding, “you’ve probably seen him at award shows or on live every once and awhile for EXO? He’s an English Setter hybrid.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize that Baekhyun-hyung brought him,” said Taeyong shrugging, “I know Xuxi said that Mark left Jisung and Haechan with Kun-ssi so I figured Baekhyun had left Chen with one of the others.”

“Mark was worried that two hybrids in a room that he may or may not have to share would be too much, Baekhyun wasn’t so worried about that,” said Taemin nodding, “Chen’s quiet and you might see him since it’s just me here tonight, but he won’t bother you. Do you need to message your roommates?”

“Only if they call and ask if I’m at the studio instead of sleeping,” said Taeyong shaking his head. “It’ll be fine.”

“Alright, I’m going to make some food, you should eat something,” said Taemin nodding and Taeyong agreed and pulled his laptop out of his backpack. He hesitated.

“Do you want help?” he asked following Taemin into the kitchen.

“Nah, but you can sit and keep me company,” said Taemin pointing to one of the stools. Taeyong set his laptop on the counter and sat on the stool.

“What have you been working on?” asked Taemin starting to pull out ingredients.

“Had an idea for a song,” said Taeyong shrugging, “and I’ve been working on some tracks too. It’s what I normally do when I can’t sleep.”

“That’s probably not helping you with the sleep situation,” said Taemin and Taeyong chuckled and shrugged.

“Probably not,” he agreed, “sometimes I go invade Channie’s studio if he’s up and we both stay awake way longer than we should.”

“He’s your producer friend, right? Does he have any music that’s only his?” asked Taemin curious.

“Sure, he and Changbinnie and Hannie have some underground stuff they do,” said Taeyong nodding and opening his laptop, “let me find you something. They work together and separate, but they’re getting a lot of attention on the stuff they work together on.”

“That’s cool,” said Taemin. Taeyong pulled up a song.

“Here,” he said, “this is one of theirs.” They listened to it all the way through Taeyong bopping slightly to the beat of it.

“They’re good,” said Taemin nodding, “I’m kind of surprised they’re not signed with anyone. How were they not trainees?”

“Chan was for JYP,” said Taeyong nodding, “and then decided he wanted to produce and not be an idol. More creative freedom or something. That’s how he knows BamBam. Changbin never thought about it, it was a hobby mostly, and Hannie would have if he could, probably still would.”

“Why doesn’t he?” asked Taemin and Taeyong hesitated a second before pulling out his phone before flipping through pictures and pulling up one of Chan, Han, and Felix.

“That’s Chan, Han, and Felix,” said Taeyong nodding to them, “Han’s the one in the middle.” Taemin looked up at him eyes wide.

“Really?” he asked, “but he’s a bunny.”

“Yeah,” said Taeyong nodding and pulling up another song on his laptop, “here this is all his, written, produced, and sang all on his own.” Taemin was silent as he listened.

“Damn,” said Taemin leaning back once it was done, “wow. He’s really good. I don’t understand.”

“Doesn’t Onew sunbaenim have a hybrid?” asked Taeyong cocking his head. 

“Yeah, Key’s a labradoodle,” said Taemin nodding, “he’s energetic, but he’s not at all smart enough for something like that. Like he’s smart as far as hybrids go, but I can’t believe a hybrid did that song, much less a bunny.” Taeyong’s nose scrunched.

“Huh,” he said, “you don’t have much interaction with hybrids then. And honestly you’re not going to meet my brothers.”

“What? What does that have to do with anything? I don’t understand, Taeyong-ah, don’t assume I’m not willing to, you just need to explain it to me,” said Taemin shaking his head. Taeyong hesitated as he put his phone down.

“Look there’s a reason that people don’t know I have roommates, that normally people don’t meet them and there’s a reason I refused to move into the dorm. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to leave them high and dry, it was because I wasn’t about to bring them with me to a dorm full of guys I’ve never met,” said Taeyong running a hand through his hair, “Sichengie’s from China, he was smuggled over by gang members, I’m really lucky that the shelter called me since I’d already taken Chenle home, he’s Cavachon. Jungwoo-ah is Devon Rex and Chenle’s American Eskimo. That’s why it’s not public knowledge that I don’t live alone. That’s why I call them my brothers, because they are, I adopted them but I do not own them.”

“I still don’t understand, Taeyong-ah,” said Taemin running a hand down his face before turning back to the food. “Explain it to me like I don’t know anything.”

“Okay. Okay. Just. For a minute suspend reality and assume that everything society has ever told you about hybrids is a blatant lie,” said Taeyong and Taemin’s face scrunched but he nodded.

“Okay,” he said nodding.

“What would that mean exactly?”

“Well, if we’re assuming that hybrids have the same mental capacity as people and emotional ability too then it means that society on a whole has been owning, abusing, murdering, and using hybrids since the very start and that’s a horrifying thought. Fuck, it’d be like if the younger three were sold and beaten and abused. Shit, that’s a terrible scenario,” said Taemin and then looked up wide eyed. “You’re not saying that’s exactly what happened?”

“That’s exactly what happened,” said Taeyong nodding, “and if you’ve never met a hybrid that hasn’t gone against their training then you’d never know because they’re convinced they’re stupid and only good for that too.”

“That can’t be true,” said Taemin shaking his head as he started dishing up food for the two of them. “There is no way that’s true.”

“Then go ask Chen-ssi if he’s ever had nightmares,” said Taeyong, “if hybrids don’t have the same emotional and mental abilities as people then they don’t have nightmares, right? Ask him what happens if he gets really really sick and Baekhyun takes him to the doctor and the doctor says it’ll cost too much to try and treat.”

“I’m going to,” said Taemin nodding and handing Taeyong a bowl before heading down the hallway and knocking on the door to Baekhyun’s room. Taeyong shrugged and texted Johnny who was awake if his Instagram indicated anything. Johnny responded quickly asking if he was at the studio and then wishing him luck with changing Taemin’s world view. Taemin reappeared minutes later looking pale and like he might throw up, Chen nervously following behind him.

“Taeyong-ah, fuck you,” stated Taemin, “I’m not going to be able to sleep for the next few days. I’m going to have to talk to hyung about Key. I need science for that, Taeyong-ah, where do I find proof? You flipped my entire world on its head. How am I supposed to keep going now?” Taeyong shrugged and bent down to dig through his backpack and came up with a pamphlet.

“Here, Minghao-ah was handing these out recently, that should be up to date,” said Taeyong handing him the pamphlet. “Hi, Chen-ssi, I’m Taeyong, nice to meet you. Have you eaten tonight?”

“No, sir,” said Chen quietly shaking his head, making sure to keep his eyes on the floor.

“Please just call me Taeyong, I’m pretty sure you’re older than me,” said Taeyong nodding, “I’m sure there’s enough food for you too.” Taemin flopped down onto the stool and started flipping through the pamphlet.

“Damn,” he muttered, “these people are not messing around, are they?”

“Nope,” said Taeyong nodding, “there’s probably a picture of Lix in there.”

“Found it,” said Taemin nodding, “oh my god, Tyongie, just. I don’t know where to go from here. How exactly am I supposed to do anything about this? But how am I supposed to not do anything either? I don’t understand.”

“I mean we can go wake up Jin-hyung?” said Taeyong shrugging, “he’s normally pretty good at the whole helping decent people figure out the whole panicking part of this realization stage.” He handed Chen a bowl who took it hesitantly.

“Thank you,” he said confused, “can I really eat this?”

“Yes,” said Taeyong nodding, “please do.”

“I’m talking to Baekhyun-hyung when he gets back,” said Taemin rubbing his forehead, “this is a nightmare. What do you do about this, Taeyong-ah?”

“I mean, I’ve got three?” asked Taeyong shrugging, “I’m vocal about supporting hybrid rights movements? I donate to 247 too. They sell bracelets and are getting ready to sell t-shirts too. I don’t want my brothers to end up under fire though so that makes the whole making a really visible statement thing kind of difficult. Generally not being awful about it is normally a good start.” Taemin nods and keeps flipping through the pamphlet.

“Hey, what’s your friend’s name? I want to listen to more of his stuff,” said Taemin looking up.

“J.One,” said Taeyong moving over to his laptop again and pulling up more of Han’s music. “Here this is my favorite, I See.” Taemin scooted forward to look at the laptop, listening intently. He clicked on another song when I See finished and then on another and another.

“Wow,” muttered Taemin sitting back and shaking his head, “just wow. He’s so good.”

“He’s faster than I am,” said Taeyong nodding, “and he writes all his own lyrics too. In a perfect world he’d be internationally famous.” Taemin nodded.

“He should be anyway,” said Taemin clicking on another song. “This is without any official training or lessons or anything too. Damn, Taeyongie, this is incredible.” Taeyong nodded.

“Yeah,” he said, “he’s awesome.”

“What kind of hybrid is he?” asked Taemin looking back up at Taeyong, Chen’s ears twitched and his head jerked up surprised.

“American Fuzzy Lop,” said Taeyong nodding, “Channie and BamBam found him in a rescue shelter like twelve ish years ago while they were both still trainees.”

“Aren’t American Fuzzy Lops expensive? What was he doing in a rescue shelter?” asked Taemin surprised and Taeyong just shrugged.

“I don’t know. He doesn’t talk about it much and I’ve never asked,” said Taeyong shaking his head, “which like, makes sense that he wouldn’t really talk about it. He might not even really remember much about where he was before. Twelve years is a long time and they were both pretty young at that point.”

“How old is he?” asked Taemin finally picking up his bowl of food to eat it.

“He’s born in 00,” said Taeyong shrugging.

“Wow, he’s that young and that good?” asked Taemin surprised. Taeyong just nodded.

“Channie’s the oldest born in 97,” said Taeyong nodding.

“I can see why he was a trainee,” said Taemin nodding, “why’d he give it up?”

“Something to do with creative freedom,” said Taeyong, “and JYP offered to let him stay on as a producer. He was strictly JYP for several years before his contract was up and they renegotiated so he was freelance and could work with artists from all over the world.”

“It’s impressive how well known he is at his age,” said Taemin, “though I suppose if he was a trainee for a while he probably knows quite a few idols from that.”

“I guess,” said Taeyong nodding, “I’m not really sure. We’re friends but I’m not really in their close circle. Lele’s close to Lix, they bonded over learning Korean after finding themselves in Seoul.”

“Oh? I thought your friend group was really big?” asked Taemin.

“It is,” said Taeyong nodding, “there’s a bunch of us and we’re all friends, but we definitely group up into clusters of closer friends. Chan-ah’s started calling his group the Strays, which is pretty funny honestly. Jin-hyung is the oldest over all and his group calls themselves Bangtan since Namjoon’s clinic is how most of them came together.”

“What’s your group?” asked Taemin grinning.

“Mmm, Johnny-hyung and Yuta, Taeil-hyung and the kids, Doyoung-ah and Jaehyun-ah, and then me and my three,” said Taeyong nodding, “Taeil-hyung’s thrown around Neo as a group name, Doyoung-ah is on board with that because Neo City is a place in his graphic novels and wants to call us that. Yuta keeps claiming it’s too long to make a decent title and wants to make it an acronym. Last I heard Chenle and Jungwoo were talking about NCT but they haven’t tried to run it past anyone else yet. It’s been a bit since we were all together, you know?”

“What do the others in your group do?” asked Taemin.

“Taeil-hyung is a PA at Bangtan and his trio is Jamin-ah and Jeno-ah who are the pups and also Renjun-ah who’s not a pup and was very excited to have more cats in the ‘family’ when we met them,” said Taeyong nodding, “Johnny-hyung owns Highway to Heaven, it’s a tattoo shop, he’s a tattoo artist. He and Yuta do all the art for their tattoos and Yuta does most of the piercings. He did my latest ones. Yuta’s Japanese, they ended up together because Johnny-hyung speaks English and Yuta spoke enough English that they could figure out how to communicate. And Doyoung-ah is a graphic novelist and YouTuber. He writes and illustrates Better Day and he and Jaehyun-ah run their YouTube channel, Face to Face.”

“That’s quite the variety,” said Taemin with a laugh. “A tattoo artist, really?”

“He’s cool,” said Taeyong shrugging, “he’s actually the first person I’d call if there was an emergency.”

“Huh,” said Taemin nodding, “well, I’m not about to judge. Clearly my world view hasn’t been super right tonight. It sounds like you have a good group of people.”

“They’re pretty great,” said Taeyong nodding, “I’m not exactly sure how we ended up in the group, but I’m glad we did. Honestly it was probably Hannie and Lix and Chan’s inability to tell them no.”

“Do you want more, Chen?” asked Taemin realizing that Chen had finished eating everything in the bowl. Chen flinched slightly at being addressed and looked like he wasn’t sure what the answer to that question was.

“Are you still hungry?” corrected Taeyong and Chen nodded slightly and Taeyong held his hand out for the bowl and refilled it. Taemin momentarily looked like he was thinking about asking why the way it was phrased made a difference before apparently deciding not to.

“Thank you,” said Chen quickly as soon as Taeyong handed it back.

“Do any of the rest of your friends do music?” asked Taemin looking back at the laptop.

“Not officially,” said Taeyong, “but we definitely found Namjoon-hyung and Yoongi-hyung’s old stuff from when they were younger. Let me find it.” He typed on his laptop and pulled up another song.

“Here, this is them, Rap Monster and Suga,” said Taeyong, “this is later actually when they worked together. Yoongi-hyung has some earlier stuff where he uses the name Gloss. They don’t do much now. I think Yoongi-hyung still writes but neither of them really do anything with it. Namjoon-hyung really doesn’t have time and Yoongi-hyung helps out at Bangtan and at Hope On the Street so he probably doesn’t really have time either.”

“He works at both places?” asked Taemin.

“He works at neither,” said Taeyong shaking his head, “that’s illegal.”

“Oh!” said Taemin surprised and then he paused. “How many hybrids do you think are on here?”

“Honestly, probably just them,” said Taeyong shrugging, “it’s not like there’s a whole lot of opportunity for that to be possible.”

“I guess that’s true,” said Taemin nodding, “they’re good too. Not as cleaned up as the other three, but that would make sense if they were younger and didn’t really pursue it.”

“Yeah, Changbin’s early stuff is like this too,” said Taeyong nodding, “Chan’s given him a lot of tips. You won’t find any of Chan’s early stuff anywhere. BamBam has it but he won’t share because he apparently uses it for blackmail.” Taemin laughed.

“What does BamBam’s group call themselves?” he asked.

“Currently Got7,” said Taeyong shrugging, “they change the number when they expand according to Han.”

“That’s relatively boring compared to the rest,” said Taemin slightly disappointed. Taeyong’s cell phone rang and he picked it up quickly.

“Hey.”

“No, I’m not at the studio, Sichengie, what’s wrong?”

“I’m at the dorm with Taemin-hyung, do you need me to come home?”

“Okay, I’ll be home before morning, don’t wake Lele up,” said Taeyong. “Okay. Okay. Yes, I’m eating. Taemin-hyung made us food. Yes, real food. Okay. Okay. Love you too. Bye.”

“Do you need to go home?” asked Taemin once Taeyong hung up.

“Just before morning so I’m there when Chenle-ah wakes up,” said Taeyong shrugging, “I’ll probably head out in a bit.” Taemin nodded.

“Want to show me what you’ve been working on?” asked Taemin and Taeyong nodded and pulled up the tracks he had been working on earlier.

Taemin knew that everyone was antsy about debuting, but they were ready. They had put so much work into being ready and tomorrow it was happening and it would be worth it. But he also liked to think he knew the other boys well enough at this point to know that he should check that everyone had headed home when he left the practice rooms for the night. He wasn’t surprised to see the light on in the one that Taeyong normally used, he was surprised to find Taeyong was already asleep, curled up on the floor a boy with a fluffy white tail and ears curled up around him also asleep. The other two were sitting close enough that they were touching the two that were asleep but they were sitting up awake talking quietly to each other.

“Oh, sorry,” said Taemin when both of them whipped around to face him. “I thought Taeyong-ah might still be here and figured I would send him home. I see you have it handled though.” One of the cats hesitated.

“Actually, um, we don’t want to wake him up since he doesn’t sleep much,” he said, “but we can’t really get him home either? He has a bed at the dorm, right?”

“Yeah,” said Taemin, “you want me to help you get him there?”

“If that won’t be a bother,” said the boy nodding, “if it will don’t worry. It wouldn’t be the first time we all slept on the floor here.” Taemin chuckled.

“Well, I can believe that, but you don’t need to tonight,” said Taemin nodding, “if one of you wants to get doors, I can carry Taeyong-ah and you can carry your other brother?” Both of the cats visibly relaxed slightly at that and Taemin realized it was probably because they hadn’t known how he would react to them.

“I’m Taemin, by the way, please call me hyung,” said Taemin smiling at them.

“I’m WinWin this is Jungwoo and that is Chenle,” said the boy had done most of the talking, “thank you for helping.”

“Of course,” said Taemin nodding as Jungwoo picked Chenle up adjusting the younger boy so he could carry him comfortably. Taemin crouched down and managed to get Taeyong up in the air, WinWin helped him adjust so it was easier to carry him and then grabbed the backpacks and pulled the door open. It didn’t take the five of them long to get to the dorm and Taemin told WinWin where his key for it was and WinWin grabbed it and let them in.

“Hyung?” asked a voice from the living room.

“Hey, Ten-ah, come make sure the door gets locked,” called Taemin, “and be quiet please?” Ten came around the corner and looked wide eyed at the group of them.

“Oh, you found Taeyong-hyungie in the practice rooms,” he said, “is he okay?”

“Just sleeping,” said Taemin nodding, “boys this is Ten. Ten these are Tae-ah’s brothers, WinWin, Jungwoo, and the sleeping one is Chenle.”

“Hey,” said Ten nodding though looking a little confused. “Is everyone staying here tonight?”

“Yes,” said Taemin nodding.

“No,” said WinWin shaking his head, “that’s way too many people. We’ll call Johnny-hyung, he’ll come pick us up.”

“I am completely sure that Taeyong-ah will stress more if he fell asleep with you all and doesn’t wake up with you all. There are extra blankets and pillows, don’t worry about it,” said Taemin nodding and leading the way down the hallway. The three hybrids hurried after him as Ten made sure the door got closed all the way and locked.

“You really don’t need to do that, Taemin-ssi,” said WinWin nervously.

“I mean if you don’t want extra blankets I’d understand,” said Taemin shrugging, “I’m guessing from the way you all were cuddled together it could get pretty warm.”

“I mean, yes, but that’s not what I meant,” said WinWin.

“And please call me hyung, WinWin-ah,” said Taemin.

“Right, sorry, Taemin-hyung,” corrected WinWin.

“This room,” said Taemin nodding to the door and WinWin pushed it open quickly. Taemin set Taeyong down on the bed and he and WinWin pulled Taeyong’s shoes off as Jungwoo set Chenle down and did the same.

“Okay, let me find extra pillows real fast and then I’ll let you all get some sleep,” said Taemin nodding, “the bathroom’s right through there. There’s soap if you want to shower, towels are under the sink. The bedroom door locks from the inside too if you want to use that. If you need extra clothes I can see what I can find that might fit.”

“No, thank you, hyung,” said Jungwoo shaking his head and crawling up onto the bed to fiddle with Chenle’s collar, carefully taking it off the younger.

“And please don’t worry about the pillows, we’ll probably not use them,” said WinWin shaking his head, “thank you for helping.”

“Of course,” said Taemin nodding, “let me know if you need anything else.”

“Thank you,” said Jungwoo nodding.

“Alright, good night, I’ll see you in the morning,” said Taemin nodding and stepping out of the room closing the door behind him. He heard tags clinking together and figured it was probably the other two taking off their own collars and then the lock on the door clicked. Taemin headed down the hallway to the living room and Ten looked up as he entered.

“Taeyong-hyung’s brothers?” he asked eyebrows shooting up towards his hairline.

“Yeah,” said Taemin nodding, “they seem like good kids. I found them with him in the practice room. I’m guessing they came to drag him home but ended up with two of them asleep. They were planning to just sleep on the floor of the practice room with them instead of waking him up. He’s got a room here for a reason and it’s not like there’s not enough space for all of them.”

“You knew they were hybrids then,” said Ten nodding.

“Yeah,” said Taemin nodding, “I hadn’t seen pictures or met them but I knew they were hybrids. We had an interesting conversation awhile back and it came up.”

“How come it hasn’t come up since? Like does hyung think we’d judge him for having three? Or like is it because two of them are cats?” asked Ten looking worried.

“Neither actually,” said Taemin sitting down, “rather he’s worried about how we might act around them. Like I said we had a very interesting conversation. Here I think I still have the second pamphlet he gave me.” He stood up and went to his backpack to pull out the pamphlet and handed it to Ten who read through it silently before looking up eyebrows scrunched together in thought.

“And this is true?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yeah,” said Taemin nodding, “all of it.” Ten swore in Thai.

“That’s about what my reaction was,” said Taemin nodding. “That’s why he hasn’t mentioned his brothers are hybrids and why none of us have met them and why he refused to move into the dorm. He didn’t want to put his brothers in a bad situation for his career.” Ten rubbed his forehead.

“I don’t even know what to do with this,” said Ten, “shit, Mark has hybrids. I don’t think he has any idea about this either.”

“Give him that pamphlet if you like,” said Taemin nodding, “I can always get another.”

“Thanks, hyung,” said Ten nodding.

“And just interact with them the way you would if they weren’t hybrids tomorrow, okay, Ten-ah?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I can do that,” said Ten nodding his face setting in a more determined expression.

“Promise you’ll go to sleep instead of researching everything tonight. You’ll have time to do that tomorrow night,” said Taemin and Ten nodded.

“Okay, hyung,” he said.

“Alright, I’m going to check in on everyone else, get some sleep, Ten-ah,” said Taemin.

“Good night, hyung,” said Ten standing up, “I’m going to pay Mark-ah a visit and then go to sleep. I’ll make sure he gets some sleep too.”

“Sounds good,” agreed Taemin, “good night.”

Lucas woke up to voices in the kitchen and he stumbled his way down the hall to see what was going on, running into Kai also just waking up.

“Morning, hyung,” said Lucas.

“Good morning, Lucas-ah,” said Kai slinging an arm over his shoulders affectionately. “Sounds like someone’s up already, yeah?” Lucas nodded and the two of them headed towards the kitchen. They were not prepared to find one cat hybrid in the kitchen, one sitting at the counter texting on a phone, Taeyong helping cook something, and a dog hybrid clinging to Taeyong from behind.

“Taeyong-hyungie?” asked Lucas rubbing at one of his eyes.

“Good morning, apparently I fell asleep in the practice rooms and Taemin-hyung brought us here,” said Taeyong shrugging, “morning, Kai-hyung.”

“Good morning,” said Kai looking around curiously, “ah, who?” He trailed off not sure how he wanted to ask his question.

“These are my brothers,” said Taeyong gesturing, “that’s Jungwoo texting his friends, this is Sicheng my favorite, and the koala is Chenle the youngest.”

“Hi,” said Chenle slightly muffled since he was still clinging to Taeyong from behind.

“You’re not supposed to have favorites, hyungie,” said Jungwoo not looking up from his phone.

“Favorites? What favorites?” asked Taeyong grinning at him, “I love Sicheng and all you non-Sicheng’s the same.”

“Lies,” complained Chenle, “also, clearly I’m the favorite. I’m the maknae.”

“I don’t want to be your favorite anyway, hyungie,” complained WinWin, “that sounds like too much responsibility.”

“Hey, hey, hey, Lix and Hannie sent me some English singer?” said Jungwoo, “Lix says he’s American and he’s some kind of a dog?”

“Oh?” asked Chenle perking up and letting go of Taeyong to invade Jungwoo’s personal space ending up with both of them falling to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

“Why are Han and Felix awake?” asked Taeyong glancing over the counter just to check that no one was hurt.

“Something about dragging Chan-hyung out of the studio to get breakfast,” said Jungwoo swiping through his phone to find the music again. He pressed play and Sicheng’s ears flicked forwards slightly as he listened.

“Oh, hey, I know this guy,” said Lucas crouching down next to the two on the floor, “Mark likes him. Alec Benjamin?”

“Yes?” said Jungwoo checking the name of the singer.

“I didn’t know he was a hybrid, that’s cool,” said Lucas, “I’m Lucas, are you older or younger than me?”

“Um, I don’t know?” said Jungwoo, “Chenle’s probably younger than you.”

“November 22, 2001,” volunteered Chenle.

“You’re the youngest,” said Lucas nodding, “January 25, 1999.”

“Dude, I’m older by like just under a year,” said Jungwoo brightly, “February 19, 1998.”

“Cool,” said Lucas grinning and looking up into the kitchen again where Kai had volunteered to help. “And you?” Sicheng looked up surprised.

“Oh, um, October 28, 1997,” he said.

“Nice, you’re older than me, can I call you hyung?” asked Lucas cheerfully not missing the way Taeyong’s shoulders relaxed slightly at the question.

“If you want,” said Sicheng nodding hesitantly, “you don’t sound Korean?”

“No, I’m Chinese,” said Lucas shaking his head and Chenle’s ears perked up.

“Me too! So’s WinWin-hyung!” he said excitedly, “you speak Mandarin?”

“Dude, yes,” said Lucas brightly and launching into excited Mandarin the other two joining in. Jungwoo rolled his eyes and stood up to climb back onto the stool and continuing to scroll through his phone.

“Changbinnie says break a leg, hyungie,” said Jungwoo.

“Why is he awake so early?” asked Taeyong surprised.

“I’ll ask,” said Jungwoo snapping a picture of the two boys still on the floor to send to the chat.

“So, this is why you didn’t want to be in a dorm, right, Taeyong-ah?” asked Kai gesturing to the group in general. Taeyong nodded.

“Yeah, this is why,” he said.

“You know it would have been okay to bring them? Like we could have gotten a bigger dorm,” said Kai.

“I didn’t know any of you I wasn’t moving my brothers and I into a house where I didn’t know what it would be like,” said Taeyong shaking his head. “I don’t regret it either honestly.”

“Because of Chen?” asked Kai.

“Partly,” said Taeyong nodding. “Taemin-hyung said he tried to talk to Baekhyun-hyung but it didn’t go great.”

“Uh, it did not,” agreed Kai, “I think hyung was mostly defensive and confused though, not opposed to changing his view, just confused.” More footsteps sounded down the hallway and Mark and Ten appeared talking to each other, both looking tired.

“Good morning, hyungs, oh and company,” said Mark as he stepped into the kitchen, “I’ll make coffee.”

“Morning hyungs, Lucas-ah, boys who I don’t know if I’m older than,” said Ten sliding onto the stool next to Jungwoo and laying his head on the counter. “Taeyong-hyung, Taemin-hyung said you fell asleep in the practice room, you need to not do that it’s not good for your back.” Taeyong shrugged.

“It wouldn’t be the first time and it probably won’t be the last either,” he said shrugging, “why were you still awake last night?”

“Taemin-hyung gave me a pamphlet and me and Mark stayed up talking,” he said, “are the other two hyungs not awake yet?”

“No,” said Taeyong shaking his head, “you want to wake them up?”

“Not really,” said Ten shaking his head, “they’ll wake up soon we’re not being quiet.”

“Hyungie, Chan-hyung says he’ll come pick us up so you don’t have to head home and then come right back,” said Jungwoo still on his phone, “they’re getting breakfast in the area anyway.”

“Okay,” said Taeyong nodding, “tell him to come by after they eat.”

“I mean I could, but he’s offering to buy us food and they’re going to get waffles, hyungie,” said Jungwoo and Chenle hopped to his feet leaning over Jungwoo’s shoulder tail wagging excitedly.

“Waffles?” he asked, “hyungie.” Taeyong rolled his eyes.

“If you’d rather go get waffles with them okay,” he said nodding, “but use your card for everyone, Sichengie’s the oldest.”

“Yes!” cheered Chenle hurrying around the counter and slamming back into Taeyong who had braced for impact while Sicheng laughed at the other two.

“Gosh you’re all so loud,” complained Taemin walking into the room, Baekhyun right behind him.

“Good morning, everyone,” he greeted.

“There’s extra,” said Baekhyun rubbing his eyes.

“Don’t worry, we’re leaving in six minutes,” said Jungwoo waving a hand.

“They’re that close?” asked Taeyong, “Lele, you need to go get your shoes and you’ve got to let go of me to do that.” Chenle let go of him and took off down the hallway, Jungwoo on his heels. Sicheng handed off the food he was working on to Taemin who volunteered and hurried after them.

“Someone explain,” said Baekhyun sitting down at the counter, rubbing his forehead.

“Taeyong-ah fell asleep in the practice room last night so I brought him here,” said Taemin.

“Those were my brothers,” added Taeyong gesturing to the direction of the hallway, “Channie’s picking him up so don’t worry about it.”

“The three hybrids are your brothers?” asked Baekhyun.

“Yes,” said Taeyong firmly, “problem?”

“Just surprised and a little confused,” said Baekhyun shaking his head, “they’re welcome to come by with you. Do we need extra keys made?”

“No,” said Taeyong shaking his head, “don’t worry about it.” The other three reappeared from down the hallway, Chenle’s shoes were still untied.

“Chenle,” said Taeyong pointing at his shoes.

“It’s a choice, hyungie,” complained Chenle.

“You’re going to trip. I tried to tell him,” said Sicheng shrugging.

“He watched that Spiderman movie with Felix last weekend,” explained Jungwoo. “The animated one. Not the one with Tom Holland.”

“Oh I love that one,” said Mark nodding.

“Taeil-hyung has the day off today, remember, Taeyongie-hyungie, we’re going with him and the others to watch the debut,” said Sicheng.

“Stay with Taeil-hyung,” said Taeyong, “there’s going to be a lot of people and security is definitely going to be looking for hybrids not with a human.”

“Stop stressing, hyung,” said Jungwoo watching as Chenle tied his shoes. His phone buzzed.

“They’re here,” he said. Taeyong and Taemin followed the three of them to the door, Taeyong getting loud goodbyes and hugs from all three of them. Taeyong and Taemin followed them down to the car where the three of them climbed in cramming inside with the other three already in the car. Jisung was in the passenger seat and rolled the window down.

“Hey!” he called waving and Taeyong and Taemin both moved over to the window.

“Hey,” said Taeyong, “thanks for coming by, and for feeding everyone.”

“Course, mate,” said Chan nodding and grinning, “have fun today, you’ll be awesome, we’ll all be there.”

“Yeah? Thanks,” said Taeyong grinning. “This is Taemin-hyung. Taemin-hyung, this is Chan, Jisung, and Felix in the back there.”

“Hey, good to meet you,” said Chan waving.

“Good to meet you too,” said Taemin nodding, “I’ve heard some of your music, you’re very talented. You too, Han-ssi, your rapping is incredible.” Jisung flushed bright pink and grinned.

“Thanks!” he said cheerfully, “that means a lot. Your music is so good.” Taemin laughed and nodded.

“Thank you,” he said, “maybe we’ll be able to see you in the crowd later.”

“Maybe,” said Chan.

“Thanks again, see you all later,” said Taeyong stepping back and waving. The group in the car yelled goodbye again before Chan started it up and they headed off down the road. Taeyong and Taemin turned to go back inside.

“That’s why you followed us out, isn’t it, hyung? You wanted to talk to Han-ah,” said Taeyong.

“Yeah,” said Taemin nodding, “I figure he probably doesn’t get to meet many people that know who he is and have heard his music and he should get to because he’s very talented.”

“Thanks, that’ll really mean a lot to him,” said Taeyong nodding. Taemin smiled.

“Hey, maybe someday he’ll be able to meet people that listen to his music and won’t have to worry about it,” said Taemin. Taeyong shrugged.

“That’d be nice,” he said nodding, “we can hope.”

“Or we could fight for it,” said Taemin. Taeyong looked up at him as they stopped at the door.

“That might tear your group apart, Taemin-hyung,” said Taeyong shaking his head.

“No, I don’t think it will,” said Taemin shaking his head, “if anything I think it’ll make us stronger. Either way let’s get through this debut before I start thinking about that. But I am going to support the movement. The whole point of being a musician is giving part of your soul to the world, wanting to make a difference if you can. What’s the point if I’m not willing to fight for the things I believe in?”

“You need to really think about that, hyung,” said Taeyong shaking his head, “look at what other musicians that support it deal with on a daily basis and decide if that’s something you want to put your group through. And talk to them before you do anything. You can support it without being a face for it, hyung, a lot of people do.”

“I’ll do my research, Taeyong-ah, don’t worry too much,” said Taemin shaking his head and smiling at him. “Let’s get ready. We’ve got a big day ahead of us.” Taeyong let Taemin wrap an arm around him as they stepped into the house and thought about what Taemin had said. He thought about how much work they had put into this debut. How much work that they all put into everything they did. He thought about what lay ahead and couldn’t help but feel like they were standing on a precipice looking down and preparing to jump. The wind was changing, something was coming.

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to say. I am not at all sure what this has turned into. My spread sheet for keeping track of people's names, ages, and occupation for this fic has gotten to be a little out of hand.  
> I have never listened to a Seventeen song and know nothing about their band, so please let me know if I've used the wrong name or something because I will have no idea. 
> 
> Animals for hybrids:  
> (dude I don't remember who all is in this fic. it was supposed to be like half this length and i've had like maybe four hours of sleep?)  
> WinWin - Cavachon  
> Jungwoo - Devon Rex  
> Chenle - American Eskimo  
> Han Jisung - American Fuzzy Lop  
> Felix - Egyptian Mau  
> Chen - English Setter  
> (I think Jisung and Haechan were mentioned? Either way here you go)  
> Jisung - Ragdoll  
> Haechan - Ashera
> 
> There's more to come! I'm working on one with more of the BTS story but it may or may not be done before the next Stray Kids focused one. We'll see which one I have more ideas for.


End file.
